The 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion (), was created in 1940 and was the main unit of the 1st Free French Division, Free French Forces (FFL). From the coast of Norway to Bir Hakeim, to Africa then the Alsace, while passing by Syria and Italy, the 13th Demi-Brigade would be part of most of the major campaigns of the French Army during the Second World War.

After having been engaged in Indochina from 1946 to 1954, the 13e DBLE joined the Algerian War, and left in 1962. The 13e DBLE was based until 2011 at Quartier-Général Monclar in Djibouti, in virtue of an accord between France and the Republic of Djibouti in 1977. During 2011, the unit moved to the United Arab Emirates. In 2016, the unit returned to France, based at the same camp where it was first formed (and took its designation on 27 March 1940) – Camp du Larzac.

Creation and different designations This unit of the Legion was created on 1 March 1940 within the cadre of the Franco-British expeditionary corps intended to intervene in Finland. The first designation of this unit was 13th Mountain Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBMLE).

In lieu of the kepi, The formation was issued the 1935 pattern Fortress troops khaki beret with the Foreign Legion grenade hat badge.p.1952 Sumner, Ian & Vauvillier, Francois The French Army 1939-45 (2) Osprey Publishing (UK) (26 June 1998)

On 1 July 1940, the 1st battalion, 900 men, were based in England as troops of the Free French Forces, the 14e DBMLE, while the remainder of the demi-brigade, 800 men principally from the 2nd battalion, returned to Morocco and preserved the designation of 13e DBMLE.

On 4 November 1940, the demi-brigade of Morocco was dissolved which allowed the troops which remained in England to readopt the designation of 13e DBLE.

History of campaigns, battles and garrisons Second World War

The unit was constituted in North Africa from volunteers of other foreign units stationed there. The unit was then commanded by lieutenant-colonel Raoul Magrin-Vernerey and was initially composed of two battalions: The 1er bataillon – Chef de bataillon (CBA) Guéninchault – Sidi bel-Abbès The 2e bataillon – Chef de bataillon (CBA) Boyer Ressès – Fez

Starting 13 May 1940, the unit took part in the Norwegian Campaign in the corps commanded by Général Béthouart, fighting in Bjerkvik and Narvik. The operation was a success, however, with the invasion of France, the unit was obliged to repatriate to the national territory. Losses in Norway were 8 Officers, and 93 Legionnaires including Chef de Bataillon Guéninchault.

The unit disembarked in Brittany on 4 June to reinforce the proposed national redoubt(). On 21 June, the survivors of the demi-brigade embarked for Scotland. Those troops which did not heed the Appeal of 18 June () joined other units of the French Scandinavian Expeditionary Corps () in the region of Trentham.

Adhering to this appeal, recently promoted captain Pierre Kœnig adjoint (assistant) of lieutenant-colonel Raoul Magrin-Vernerey, convinced the latter to head to London, where they met Général De Gaulle. Magrin-Vernerey met with Général Antoine Béthouart, chief 1st Chasseurs Division of the French Scandinavian Expeditionary Corps (), who allowed him to meet the men at the garrisoned camp on the night of 30 June. Out of the 1,619 Legionnaires present on 28 June 1940, a little less than 900 rallied to Free France (), the others joined Morocco under the command of Général Béthouard. Joining later the camp, where were regrouped the garrisoned Free French Forces, the 13e DBLE participated to the 14 July parade in London.

The units of the Free French Forces took temporarily, between 1 July 1940 and 2 November 1940, the designation of 14th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion 14e DBLE, while composed of the following: Headquarters staff commanded by commandant Alfred Maurice Cazaud () 3 combat units 1 support unit The demi-brigade had a strength of 25 officers, 102 NCOs and 702 other ranks.in Képi blanc magazine n°723 – July 2010

At the end of September 1940, the unit participated in the Battle of Dakar against Dakar. Following the failure of the landing in Senegal, the unit finished by disembarking, under the command of lieutenant-colonel Cazaud, in Equatorial French Africa () to partake, in November 1940, to the Battle of Gabon () and the rallying of Gabon to Free France (), under the command of général de Larminat.

The unit accordingly assumed its original denomination, and at the corps of the French Orient Brigade, the unit circled Africa and disembarked at Port Soudan on 12 February 1941 to take part in combats in the East African Campaign. The brigade accordingly distinguished itself during the Battle of Keren, on 27 March 1941, then Massaoua on 8 April 1941.

In the following month, the unit joined Palestine in order to participate to the Syria–Lebanon Campaign. The demi-brigade entered into Syria on 8 June and following harsh combats, managed to enter into Damascus on 21 June. On 6 September 1941, lieutenant-colonel prince Amilakvari assumed command of the unit. In December, the 2nd battalion (commandant René Babonneau ()) and 3rd battalion made way to North Africa where the unit, at the corps of the Koenig Brigade, front faced the forces of the Afrika Korps.

Promoted to in September 1941, excellent instructor of men, René Babonneau assumed command of the 2nd Battalion, which at Bir Hakeim, on 27 May 1942, held back more than 70 tanks of the division Ariete, by destroying 35 out of them.on this day of 10 June 1942, Bir Hakiem by général Koenig His battalion received a citation at the orders of the armed forces. Remaining at the rear to uphold the unfolding, on the night of 10–11 June 1942 he was made prisoner and transferred to Italy, where he twice attempted to escape.

From May to June 1942, a part of the unit was successful at Bir Hakeim. This would be the occasion for Pierre Messmer, captain commanding a company to write later, a book: The Lost Patrol (). Then the "13e" took part to the Second Battle of El Alamein, during which the commanding officer of the unit - Dimitri Amilakhvari - was killed.

During the assembly of the 1st Free French Division (1re DFL), beginning of 1943, the DBLE disappeared as far as a troop corps and the three constituting units (1er BLE, 2e BLE and the anti-tank company) were incorporated into the 1st Brigade of the Division.

The unit later engaged in combat at the corps of the French Expeditionary Corps then disembarked in Provence within the cadre of Operation Dragoon in mid-August 1944. The demi-brigade took part in the Liberation of France () as part of the 1st Free French Division (1st Army) (), notably during the course of the Battle of the Vosges ().

During late 1944, a nominally Ukrainian battalion of the FFI – composed of recent defectors from the 30th Waffen SS Grenadier Division — was attached to the 13th Demi-Brigade. Two groups from the SS division had defected to the FFI on 27 August. One included 818 Ukrainians based at Vesoul, under the direction of Major Lev (Leon) Hloba, who had shot their German officers and surrendered to the Haute-Saône arm of the FFI in the Confracourt Woods. They brought with them 45-mm antitank guns, 82-mm and 50-mm mortars, 21 heavy machine guns, as well as large amounts of small arms and small-caliber ammunition.Sorobey That same day, a similar defection occurred near Camp Valdahon – hundreds of men brought with them an antitank gun, eight heavy machine guns, four mortars, and small arms and ammunition. The defectors became known as the Bataillon de Résistants Ukrainiens.

On 6 April 1945, the unit was seen attributed the Ordre de la Libération.

Indochina War Destined to be part of the French Expeditionary in Extreme-Orient, the 13eDBLE disembarked of the SS Ormonde on 6 February 1946 at Saigon and garrisoned north of the town, in the triangle of Gia Định -Thu Duc – Hoc Mon.

Operations commenced, with 19 June 1946, the first combat at Mat Cat (Cochinchine). The 13e DBLE was engaged in the frontiers of Siam until Tourane, while passing by the fields of Joncs. The battalions were spread. The 1st Battalion at Cambodia, pursued the Khmers issarak, which refuged in Siam. The 2nd Battalion at the center of Annam, defended Tourane, emptied Hué and installed a series of posts around Quảng Nam. The 3rd Battalion confronted hard combat at Cochinchine, where local ambushes alternated with action forces.

The 13e DBLE participated to operations "Vega", "Dragon II et III", "Geneviève", "Jonquille", and "Canigou", with the adversary often leaving combatants behind, such as at Largauze on 26 March 1949. In 1950 the 13e DBLE assembled in Cochinchine and received in support a fourth battalion. The latter was destined to join the units that had the mission to clean up the fields of Joncs.

The rhythm of operations accelerated with the beginning of the dry season: "Potager", "Normandie", "Ramadan", "Trois Provinces", "Tulipes", "Ulysse 3", "Neptune", and "Revanche". Following this operation, the 13e DBLE was again split. Three battalions remained in Cochinchine where they participated to different operations: "Araba", "Mandarine", "Pamplemousse", and "Caïman".

On 31 January 1953, the 4th battalion was dissolved and the 3rd battalion transformed into an itinerary battalion: the latter would be found in Tonkin, then at Hué, Na Sam, Xoang Xa, at Than Hoa, engaged in a series of hard combats.

Combat engagements The 13e DBLE was attacked at Cà Mau by 700 combatants on 13 June 1947. At Cau Xang, nine legionnaires defended the guard tower, until their death. On 23 August 1947, the intervention company of the 3rd battalion was surprised with a larger superior number enemy. The legionnaires formed the Infantry square and repelled all the assaults while singing « Le Boudin » (). When the rescue column arrived, the post deplored one killed and four wounded; however, the enemy retreated with three full chariots. On 1 March 1948, a free escorted civilian convoy passed by Saigon to Dalat and fell in an ambush. Lieutenant-colonel de Sairigné, regimental commander of the 13e DBLE was part of the first killed. The adversaries took 134 civilians to serve them as shields. The pursuit led to the recuperation of a part of the innocent hostages which the enemy was constrained to abandon.

Hòa Bình 1952

The 13e DBLE participated in the Battle of Hòa Bình from 14 November 1951 to 24 February 1952. Hòa Bình (the name means "peace" in Vietnamese) was the capital of the Muong ethnic minority. By road, Hòa Bình lay a mere 67 kilometers of map distance from Hanoi via Colonial Route 6 (Fr: Route Coloniale 6). The Việt Minh had controlled Hòa Bình since October 1950 and used the district as a logistics staging area for operations in north central Vietnam. The French commander in Indochina, General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, ordered the retaking of Hòa Bình in late 1951.

The 2nd Battalion of 13e DBLE fought in a key engagement at Xóm-Pheo from 8–9 January 1952. The legionnaires held a vital hill at Xóm-Pheo astride Colonial Route 6, and they fortified their positions with trenches, bunkers, barbed wire, and minefields. On the night of 8 January, troops from the Việt Minh 102nd Infantry Regiment infiltrated through the minefields and attacked the 2/13e DBLE positions. The Việt Minh forces overran the 5th Company position and destroyed bunkers with TNT satchel charges and Bangalore torpedoes. With many of their officers and NCOs killed or wounded, and half of their position overrun, the legionnaires counterattacked with fixed bayonets and hand grenades.

The legionnaires later counted 700 Việt Minh dead around the position at Xon-Pheó.

Dien Bien Phu 1953–1954